Philadelphia Flower Show- Bloombill

Kind of a crazy day, so I'm doing a flower show post that won't take too long to write. This was called Bloombill and was created by designer Jennifer Reed and her daughters, Chloe and Hannah Oeschle.

Of course I loved the theatre motif, but except that the "play" was called Rooted in Love it seemed to have no connection to the theme.

The two characters are Briar (the rose) and Sunny (the sunflower) whose love is ill-fated.

Here's the playbill. Supposedly you can scan the QR code and read the play, written by one of the designers.

To each side of the stage were box seats for the special guests.

We liked the idea and thought it was well-designed, but couldn't figure out how you could have any idea what the story is from the tableau. I looked it up on line to find out most of what I just told you. There was supposed to be a statue of Shakespeare made with plant material there too, but we didn't see it.

Today, we shopped again because it was sale day at Adams, the produce store. Then we decided to do the Adams Flower Show (regular readers will recognize this as one of our usual stops). But I'll save those pictures for later. We were going to walk at the mall because it was raining agina. But Marie had a big event this evening, so she decided she needed to rest. We came home and watched a movie. Then we had to go out to her gun club because she's in charge of the kitchen. They had a dinner and a meeting tonight. She didn't do any of the cooking for today but she does all the set up, and some of the cleanup. The dinner was great. I read during their business meeting. At any rate, it was a long day.

See Rooted- Who Got it Right?

Into the Woods and Into the Woods

You know I love theater, even though I don't seem to attend as many plays as I'd really like to. However, I managed to get to the last performance of Into the Woods at West Shore Community College. Glad I didn't wait too long to get a ticket. They sold out the entire final weekend.

You also may not believe that I've never seen Into the Woods before. My loss. I would like to see multiple productions of it. Meanwhile, this one was great! I've said for years that the best play they ever did at the college was The Wizard of Oz because they had such a standard to live up to since everyone has seen the movie multiple times. However, this one was right up there.

I had a crummy seat and didn't get many good pictures (I always restrain myself if there is a caution that pix are not allowed, but there was no such warning). This is the scene when Cinderella and her step-sisters are off to the ball, Red Riding Hood is on her way to Granny's, and Jack is off to sell the cow.

Speaking of the cow... although I like to act, most of my experience in the theater phase of my life was with the staging aspects. The cow was a puppet, and it was unbelievably good! Its handler was dressed in black and appeared on stage with it all the time, but it wasn't disruptive at all. The cow as so expressive! In the next picture, Jack is talking with Milky White (the cow's name). You can see the puppeteer in the cap.

The stage at WSCC is not large. They really need a new auditorium (in my opinion). However, the staging and choreography of a fairly large cast was phenomenal.

In this scene from Act II, you can see that the large trees rotate to become the Baker's house, Cinderella's throne room, and Jack's cottage.

There were three other trees on rollers (see one to the left of the center "house") that the stage hands moved around to create different locations "in the woods."

The trees are gray, and the colors are changed with the lighting. Both of the pictures I got show it in green, but they changed the mood of the "woods" with many colors and pattern effects.

There were also two scenes with a scrim. I was at a bad angle to get a picture of either. Basically, this is a gauze panel that when light shines on it from the audience side it looks opaque, but when light shines from the stage side, you can see through to the "inside."

The lyrics are snappy, the message is actually good. The performance was professional level.

After the show (which is nearly 3 hours long), even with the return to Standard Time, I was able to hike the short trail aroung the pond at WSCC, so I went Into the Woods! Most of the color is faded, but the low light on this treeline was great.

Did all the usual things, just not as much time on each.

Miles hiked in 2025: 423.7

West Shore Community College trail, 0.7 miles

See WSCC Hike

Day Off- Day 109

  My body needed rest, and some work was piling up. I was really good and got a lot of it done, but then we went to a local high school production of Mamma Mia. You didn't think I'd make it through a whole year without any theater, did you? The kids did a great jpb!

In other news- I want to say a big thanks to our previous hosts, Steve and Karen.

And Sophie had a birthday party yesterday, number 7. She was unimpressed despite having new squeaky toys.

And now I need to get to bed- tomorrow it's back on the trail.

See Pennsylvania

Scenes from Clue

  On Saturday I went to the production of the play, Clue, at West Shore Community College. Everyone did a phenomenal job! Let me say the the set was outstanding. Rolling scenery wagons allowed whole portions of the walls to rotate in order to "create" the additional rooms of the mansion. The play was adapted from the movie script, which was created by writing a farsical story based on the Parker Brothers game. The rooms are the ones you know from the game board. The play is totally hilarious. I haven't laughed so much in a long time.

Here, the butler welcomes Colonel Mustard to the house.

Each of the guests- you know them- Colonel Mustard, Mr. Green, Professor Plum, Miss Scarlett, Mrs. Peacock, and Mrs. White, receives his or her weapon as a mystery gift from Mr. Boddy. The wrench, the revolver, the lead pipe, the candlestick, the knife and the rope... but you knew that already.

Soon, the cook is found dead in the kitchen, killed with the knife. You know how it goes... you have two of the three elements, but who did it? Actually, the dead cook almost manages to take out Mr. Green!

Next, Mr. Boddy becomes a body. I included this picture so you could see the French maid, far left.

The middle portion of the play is the hilarious pursuit of trying to determine who killed whom, and who else might turn up dead. Here, Col. Mustard and Miss Scarlett find the secret passageway from the Conservatory.

All is revealed at the end (of course, right?) Mrs. White makes an accusation.

All the main characters and several of the minor ones were outstanding. It was a high-energy production. I'd like to say the butler in particular was great, but so were Mrs. White, Mrs. Peacock, Miss Scarlett, Col Mustard, Mr. Green and Prof. Plum. Each was just what they were supposed to be and played the roles to perfection.

In other news: I wrote two articles this morning. In the afternoon I worked on trailer stuff in the house (because the weather was kind of miserable), and hike food, and went to the store. I had a meeting this evening. Finally... I get to cross something off. 2 big things-the articles. So there are now 33 BIG ITEMS to do (29 done) and 25 small ones (11 done) to do. 36 days to go.

See Ossawald Crumb

A Night on the Town

  This is about as cosmopolitan as I get. I went to town at 4 pm, and entertained myself for four hours. On purpose. I know, scary huh? That I would choose to do peoply things for that long.

I'll start with the last thing on my list and work backwards. Did you know that Ludington has their very own legendary lumberjack, Ossawald Crumb? He was created in 1932 by the son of lumber baron Justus Stearns. The son, Robert, wrote two charming children's books featuring the character.

Local thespian (actor, professor, director, you name it as long as you preface it with the word talented), Rick Plummer, has written a children's play, "The Amazing and Almost True Tale of Ossawald Crumb and the Michigan White Pine." It's being performed at Sandcastles Children's Museum this weekend. Performances are FREE. So, why did I choose to go to a 30-minute play for kids? The cast is a collection of superb local actors and actresses- most of them are people I've seen before in many roles. I knew that whatever this was, it would be worth watching.

Grandmother Pine holds a sacred place in the forest.

The forest creatures gather around her and discuss how there must be both good and frightening things in life.

The Ossawald Crumb, the lumberjack shows up and he is going to cut down Grandmother Pine!

The forest creatures must figure out how to show Ossawald that he should not cut all the trees. I won't tell you their plan, but it involves the Tricky Rabbit. Ossawald gets schooled.

The room was full of small children, and they were all highly engaged with the story. If you have kids, there are two more performances, at 11 am and 2 pm, tomorrow (Saturday Aug 7). As I said, they are free, but you must wear a mask. Limited seating, so get there in plenty of time.

Working back in time, I took myself out for dinner at what is now called the 10 Spot. Four years ago, there was one food truck in this parking lot- see the Summer Bucket List link below. Now, there are five food trucks, tables under a canopy, and music.

You can get various kinds of food at reasonable prices. For $6.50, I got chips, pop, and a Ludington Dog. This is a hot dog with garlic mayo, grilled corn, parmezan cheese, and chili powder. Can you say yummy? You can get meals with things much more substantial than a hot dog and still spend only about $10.

Before that, I went to the Mason County Garden Club flower show. I may have to do a whole post about that, but for tonight I'll just show you my favorite entry. The theme was "The solar system." This one is called "Sunspots." There were several that I really liked, but this was dramatic, and a little unusual, and I thought it had good balance and colors.

In other news: As if that's not enough news, I also wrote a chapter. Before that, Cathy and I went for a walk in a new place. But I am waiting to tell you about that at another time. It rained for about an hour this morning, and I'll give you one guess as to which hour we chose to walk! I leave for Holland before the crack of dawn tomorrow. I think that's enough for one day.

See Mason County Garden Club Flower Show 2019 See Summer Bucket List

The Amazing Fair Women

 
Taking a day off from Flower Show pictures because tonight I went to a reader's theater production of an original play called The Amazing Fair Women. It was written by local writer Jane Carpenter, and provides an historical and humorous look at the women who were involved in creating the Women's Building of the 1983 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. Christine Plummer of Ludington directed.

The play provides a setting in which many of the women who contributed to the creation of the building and exhibits look back at the experience, as if they were still alive today.

In this scene, Bertha Palmer (seated), wife of Potter Palmer, of Palmer House fame, interacts with Sophia Hayden (far left) and Enid Yandell (middle). Palmer was the President of the Board of Lady Managers, Yandell was a sculptress, and Hayden was the architect for the stunning building at only 21 years of age.



The play was more of an historical lesson than a story with a plot, and the points were enhanced by a screen with photographs of the actual parts of the exhibit or people under discussion.



One of the funniest scenes was between Bertha Palmer and Edith Clarke. Once it was decided that there would be a display of books written by women there was little agreement on how they should be displayed. The Dewey Decimal System was quite new, and Clarke, who was head cataloger of the Newberry Library (Chicago), wanted the books organized and displayed using that system. Palmer was more interested in the DISPLAY of the books, and apparently the two women disagreed violently on this point. Clarke persisted and almost finished cataloging the 8000 books by the end of the Exposition.



There were other well-played and funny moments as well. You only get to see scenes where my pictures turned out.

The play ended with the women learning about a thing called the internet, and they all were given smart phones and told how to look up their names and the Exposition on Wikipedia!



In the gallery at the Arts Center for this past month there has been a Celebration of Women in the Arts, and this play is the culmination.

In other news: I wrote in the morning, and did a bunch of odds and ends in the afternoon. Sometimes I'm not sure if I'm making progress on anything or just making a bigger mess.

	See Theater
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Coffee to Big Fish

 
Today was non-stop, but it began calmly with walking Mia to school and then going out for coffee with Dave and Rachel before work.



Then we walked Rachel the rest of the way to work.



I liked the roof on this building. I thought it was terra cotta tile with lichen. Turns out, when I could zoom the photo, it's green tiles with peeling paint!



We ended the day with a production at Anje's high school of the musical "Big Fish." No photos allowed. But it's a great show and the kids did a good job.

What with shopping, cooking, picking up a family member at the airport, driving all over, and all the other miscellaneous events of a family day, we are whipped.

Slight change of plans. We are going to the Flower Show tomorrow instead of Sunday. Everyone agreed that was a good idea.

	See Kids & Classical Music
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The Runner Stumbles

 
Tonight I went to the local book club meeting, because they were doing a reader's theater presentation of a play called The Runner Stumbles.

Kind of surprisingly, I wasn't at all familiar with the play (1979). It's loosely based on the true story that was also the basis for the book Isadore's Secret, which I do know.

The actual events occurred in 1906, in northern Michigan. A nun, in a small parish was murdered.

Here, the priest and the nun have a conversation.



A scene from the courtroom. As you can see, the readers wore just a few pieces of costume to be suggestive of their roles.



And here, the housekeeper testifies in court.



It's really a thought-provoking play. It was made into a TV movie starring Dick Van Dyke, but if I ever saw it, I sure don't remember it.

So that's my big cultural night out!

In other news: I got my entries for this year's Michigan Outdoor Writer awards sent in. That's a huge job to choose which pieces to submit in the various categories, and then to get everything scanned and turned in according to the formats they want. I also did laundry. Fun stuff coming up tomorrow. Stay tuned.

	See Best Christmas Pageant Ever
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Best Chrismas Pageant Ever

 
Tonight I went with friends Sue and Martin to Manistee. We met up with Ramona at the Bungalow restaurant and ate dinner together.



Then Martin, Sue and I (Ramona had already seen it) went to The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, put on by the Manistee Civic Players. This was staged at the high school, rather than their usual venue at the Ramsdell.

I'm sure most of you know the story, so let me just say this in introduction: this is the sort of production that community theater is all about. The cast is largely children. I'm sure anyone who has organized a typical church Christmas pageant can feel the irony oozing from this play full of children about a play full of children. According to the program, this was the first stage experience for a lot of these kids, some as young as six years old. And they did a great job. I could understand almost all of their lines- certainly no worse than many plays where the actors are all adults.

I'll just hit the highlights of the plot. None of the other children like the Herdmans. Those kids are mean and dirty. In fact, one boy admits to liking to go to church because it's the one place no Herdman will go.



As Christmas approaches, Mrs. Armstrong breaks her leg and can not direct the Christmas pageant. She gets Mrs. Bradley to agree to take over. But almost no one wants to be in the Christmas pageant because it has become familiar and boring.



Meanwhile, Charlie Bradley makes the mistake of telling one of the Herdmans that there are lots of free refreshments after Sunday School. Consequently, the Herdman's show up and immediately volunteer to take on roles in the pageant, no matter that they don't even know the Christmas story.

Here are Imogene and Ralph Herdman, fighting over the doll that is going to represent baby Jesus.



Mrs. Bradley reads the Christmas story, and these unwelcome kids who have never heard it before add lots of "Shazam," and they ask interesting questions.

Imogene decides she wants to be Mary, and here's the result as she absorbs the power of the familiar tale.


Imogene and Ralph after the wisemen visit. Wiseman LeRoy Herdman (or maybe Ollie, I'm not sure) brings the gift of the ham from their welfare basket.



Finally, I just have to show this picture. This is one of the "baby angels." What else can I say... angelic.


Lots of fun! Time to visit in the car on the way, too.

In other news: I am working on the last editing of Dead Mule Swamp Druggist.

	See A Tuneful Christmas Carol
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